Ex-NY DOT worker wants probe of Cuomo official's comments

February 26, 2013

LAKE PLACID (AP) - The state Department of Transportation engineer forced to retire rather than face being fired for a newspaper interview wants a formal investigation into comments made by a top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Mike Fayette was disciplined for talking to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise for a story in which he praised the DOT's handling of Hurricane Irene.

After Fayette went public last week, Howard Glaser, Cuomo's director of state operations, went on the radio to air a past disciplinary finding against Fayette. Glaser says DOT considered Fayette's whole record when disciplining him for the interview.

Article Photos

Former state Department of Transportation engineer Mike Fayette holds a copy of the Aug. 30, 2012 issue of the Enterprise, which contained a story about DOT’s response to Tropical Storm Irene that he was quoted in. The story prompted DOT to threaten to fire him for talking to the press without getting the necessary approval.(Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)

Fayette has asked Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott to probe whether Glaser was allowed to disclose personnel records. The state's open records expert says he was.

The DOT says it released the records after Fayette released "only a portion" of the basis for his discipline.